Quilt blog by UK based patchwork quilter obsessed with block of the month projects. And cupcakes. And candles.

Tuesday, 14 April 2015

The Girl with the Iron-Shaped Burn

I'm clumsy. And no, I'm not one of those people who occasionally bumps into things and laughs it off as being "uncoordinated". I've fallen over on completely level, dry surfaces. On one occasion I fell, bit through my lips, twisted my ankle, grazed my knee and fractured my skull resulting in severe concussion. It was a dry, bright autumn day.

And nothing says "danger" so much as a clumsy person wielding a lot iron. So, whilst I'll dice with death (or at least severe burns) whilst doing my weekly laundry with fingers well away from the hot plate, I want more control if I'm trying to press hundreds of tiny half-square triangles flat. I value my digits too much.

My sewing room iron had for some months been a Morphy Richards travel iron but, a few days ago, it simply decided not to heat up. Amazon very kindly offered to replace it and sent me out an identical item. On Friday I finally unpacked the new iron, heated it up and did some piecing. Not a minute after I finished pressing the last block, there was a loud electrical crackling and grey smoke started pouring out of the iron. It smelt oddly of birthday candles.

I quickly switched off and unplugged the iron and contacted Amazon. They again offered to send me a replacement but, after two failures, I'm thinking this iron and I are not destined to be.

Has anyone got a recommendation for an iron suitable for a clumsy sewer? I've heard good things about the little Prym one...